Central Black Holes Control Star Formation in Massive Galaxies

Supermassive black holes, with masses more than a million times that of the Sun, reside at the centers of all massive galaxies. A new study published in the journal Nature shows that the star formation history of a massive galaxy depends on the mass of its central black hole. Every massive galaxy has a central supermassive black hole, revealing its presence through its gravitational effects on the galaxy’s stars and sometimes powering the energetic radiation from an active galactic nucleus (AGN).